How
and when these new child support guidelines should apply:
THESE
GUIDELINES APPLY TO CURRENT CHILD SUPPORT ONLY. THEY DO NOT
APPLY TO ALIMONY, THE DIVISION OF MARITAL PROPERTY, THE
PAYMENT OF ARREARS, RESTITUTION, OR REIMBURSEMENT, NOR DO
THEY APPLY WHERE THE PARTIES HAVE MADE AN AGREEMENT WHICH IS
APPROVED BY THE COURT AND IS FOUND BY THE COURT TO BE FAIR
AND REASONABLE, AND MAKES ADEQUATE PROVISION FOR THE SUPPORT
OF THE CHILD.
THERE
SHALL BE A PRESUMPTION THAT THESE GUIDELINES APPLY, ABSENT
AGREEMENT OF THE PARTIES, IN ALL CASES SEEKING THE
ESTABLISHMENT OR MODIFICATION OF A CHILD SUPPORT ORDER. A
SPECIFIC, WRITTEN FINDING THAT THE GUIDELINES WOULD BE
UNJUST OR INAPPROPRIATE AND THAT THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE
CHILD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED IN A PARTICULAR CASE SHALL BE
SUFFICIENT TO REBUT THE PRESUMPTION IN THAT CASE.
THESE
REVISED GUIDELINES, IN AND OF THEMSELVES, DO NOT CONSTITUTE
A SUFFICIENT CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES TO WARRANT A
MODIFICATION OF THE CHILD SUPPORT ORDER.
The
child support guidelines are formulated to be used by the
justices of the Trial Court, whether the parents of the
children are married or unmarried, in setting temporary,
permanent or final orders for current child support, in
deciding whether to approve agreements for child support,
and in deciding cases that are before the court to modify
existing orders. A modification may be allowed upon showing
a discrepancy of 20% or more between an established order
and a proposed new order calculated under these
guidelines.
The
presumption establishing a proposed new order may be
rebutted in cases where the amount of support required under
the guidelines is due to the fact that the amount of the
current support order resulted from a rebuttal of the
guideline amount or by an allowance of an agreement of the
parties and there has not been a change in the circumstances
which resulted in a rebuttal of the guideline amount. The
guidelines are intended to be of assistance to members of
the bar and to litigants in determining what level of
payment would be expected of them given the relative income
levels of the parties. In all orders where an order for
child support is requested, a guideline worksheet must be
filled out, regardless of the income of the parties.
In
establishing these guidelines, due consideration has been
given to the following principles:
-
Impact
on the child of family breakup;
-
To
encourage joint parental responsibility for child
support in proportion to, or as a percentage of income;
-
To
provide the standard of living the child would have
enjoyed had the family been intact;
-
To
meet the child’s survival needs in the first instance,
but to the extent either parent enjoys a higher standard
of living to entitle the child to enjoy that higher
standard;
-
To
protect a subsistence level of income of parents at the
low end of the income range whether or not they are on
public assistance;
-
To
take into account the non-monetary contributions of both
the custodial and non-custodial parents;
-
To
minimize problems of proof for the parties and of
administration for the courts;
-
To
allow
for orders and wage assignments that can be adjusted as
income increases or decreases.
